The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Western Athletic Conference by both the coaches and media.

"That's fine," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "I said there's five teams that you have to look at in the league this year, and we're one of them. It gives us some room to move up."

The preseason polls and all-conference teams were released yesterday.

Defending WAC champion Nevada was picked first by both the coaches and media.

Nevada senior forward Nick Fazekas was selected by both the media and coaches as the Preseason Player of the Year. He won the WAC Player of the Year award as a sophomore and junior.

Hawai'i seniors Ahmet Gueye and Matt Lojeski were picked to the Preseason All-WAC second team.

"Either of them could have been first team," Wallace said. "But at least we got two guys on there."

The Hawai'i women's team was picked fourth by the WAC coaches and third by the media.

UH senior center Brittany Grice was picked to the coaches' first team; senior guard Janevia Taylor made the media's first team.